I Live For The Applause

The lights go out and I take my place on the dark stage. The crowd is completely silent as I anxiously wait for the lights to come back on. I feel my heart beating in my chest as the lights go up and the music starts to play. Not even three minutes later, I hit my final pose as the audience explodes with cheering and clapping. This is the moment that I live for.

Some of my earliest memories are from when I started to dance when I was 2-years-old. There was nothing better than being a “tiny-tot.” I remember walking into dance class with my pink tutu ready to become a ballerina. The best part was getting a lollipop at the end of class.

Slowly, dance became a very large part of my life. It became more serious, but it helped me to become the person that I am today.

I owe a lot to my dance teachers for helping me to come out of my shell when I was an awkward middle schooler. These women were always people that I looked up to. If I was too scared to try a new dance move, they encouraged me to try. If I fell, they were there to help me up. Whenever I was beginning to feel discouraged, they pushed me to keep going. They helped me to gain the confidence that I have today.

Dance slowly became an escape for me. After a long day of school, I always look forward to a few hours in the studio to get away from reality. The studio is almost like a second home to me; it is somewhere that I feel safe. My dance friends are my family.

Not only did dance give me confidence, but it also helped me learn how to be competitive in the best way possible. I learned how to compete with my peers in a positive manner.

Dance helped me learn how to have faith in myself and perform on a stage in front of hundreds of people without even being slightly nervous.

Joining the dance ensemble at Sacred Heart was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Coming in as a scared freshman, the girls of the ensemble welcomed me with open arms and made me feel so comfortable.

Any worries that I had about college slowly started to fade away as I formed friendships with people who have become some of my best friends.

Performing on stage went from being a nightmare to being one of my favorite things to do. Even though countless hours in the studio, tons of bruises and months of rehearsals only count for a few minutes on the stage, it is so worth it.

There is no feeling that compares to the adrenaline rush that I get while dancing on stage. After hitting all of my moves, even the one that I thought I would mess up, hearing the audience cheering me on is an incredible experience.

I would not trade those few minutes on stage for anything. With only one more year of dance ensemble ahead of me, I plan on giving it my all.

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The Spectrum is a student-run weekly newspaper publication first established in 1983. The staff consists of nearly 20 editors and more than two dozen staff writers and contributing writers. The writing staff is fueled by News Writing and Reporting Classes in which students learn the fundamentals of news writing, while being published weekly in the Spectrum.
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